Reel for laying rod or wire

ABSTRACT

A laying reel with a fixed annular guide surrounding the laying member outlet with an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the turns formed by the reel, and a radially movable roller for rolling on the stock as it issues from the laying member outlet.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Georg Bollig Dusseldorf, Germany [21 Appl. N 0. 788,780

[22] Filed Jan. 3,1969

[45] Patented Feb. 16, 1971 [73] Assignee Schloemann Aktiengesellschafl Dusseldorf, Germany a corporation of Germany [32] Priority Jan. 4, 1968 [33] Austria [54] REEL FOR LAYING ROD 0R WIRE 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[ 5 2 U.S. CL, 242/82 [51] Int. Cl B214: 47/00 [50] Field of Search 242/82, 83 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,216,225 10/1940 Bruestle 242/82 Primary Examiner-Nathan L. Mintz Attorney-Holman & Stern ABSTRACT: A laying reel with a fixed annular guide surrounding the laying member outlet with an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the turns formed by the reel, and a radially movable roller for rolling on the stock as it issues from the laying member outlet.

REEL FOR LAYING ROD OR WIRE The invention relates to a laying reel for laying rod or wire in the form of turns, particularly on a continuously moving conveyor, the said reel having a shaped rotating member (normally a pipe), the outlet end portion of which is curved to form the rod or wire into turns and is surrounded by an annular fixed guide. Though the invention is particularly applicable to reeling hot-rolled rod coming from a rod mill, it may be used for instance for reeling wire coming from a wire mill or high-speed patenting furnace.

As the rod or wire passes through the shaped laying member, the rod or wire has to overcome frictional resistance which is the result of the force required to bend the rod or wire and of the centrifugal force acting on the rod or wire. Whereas the deforming force required to bend the rod or wire increases with the diameter of the rod, the centrifugal force usually increases as the diameter of a rolled rod is reduced, as a result of the increased end rolling speed which necessitates a higher speed of rotation of the laying member. Moreover, in the case of vertical axis laying reels it is'necessary to overcome the frictional resistance in the pipe and deformation resistance in the rod or wire where the latter is guided through 90.

In a rod mill, this total frictional resistance is at first overcome by the last roll stand which is located about 30 to 40 meters before the reel and acts as a driver. As soon as the wire rod has quitted the last roll stand, the undriven end of the rod, in consequence of the said frictional influences, is retarded to a greater or less extent according to the thickness and speed of travel of the rod, and is deposited on the conveyor belt in turns which become progressively smaller correspondingly to this retardation.

This reduction in the size of the last turns of wire rod has a very undesirable effect in the coil-collecting location at the end ofthe conveyor, andthis effect becomes more marked the thicker the rod and the slower its speed.

In the type of laying reel in which rod is immediately formed into a coil in a receptacle, the problem can be solved by allowing the rod eaving the last roll stand to wind firmly about an inner mandrel in the receptacle, so that it is thus drawn through the laying member.

However, in the case of a laying reel which lays the rod or wire in spaced turns on a continuous conveyor, whether in the form of hanging turns or overlapping turns, it is necessary to provide an additional driver directly before or above the laying reel in order to overcome the frictional resistance in the bend and in the laying member and in order to ensure that the end of the rod or wire which is no longer driven by the roll stand can be pushed through the laying member.

When the diameter of the rod is more than mm., there is a risk of the end being jammed in the laying member so that the use of such laying reels in conjunction with a conveyor usually remains restricted to wire rod with a diameter of 10 An important advantage of the invention is that the driver located before the laying reel may be omitted since its function is now performed by the roller which follows the outlet end of the laying member, in conjunction with narrowing of the guide to make the diameter equal to the maximum external diameter of the turns of rod or wire, without making it necessary to increase the power of the reel drive. A particular advantage of the invention is that the roller and the narrowing of the guide can easily be applied to already existing laying reels.

ln order to adjust the pressure of the roller to the diameter of the rod or wire at any given time and to the varying speed of rotation of the roller, it is of particular advantage that the distance between the roller and the counterweight be adjustable. This makes it possible to determine and adjust the reel to a force of application which is just sufficient to pull the rod or wire through the laying member while exerting a minimum flattening effect on the rod or wire, as a function of the quality of rod or wire, the temperature of the rod or wire and the speed of rotation of the reel.

The output end portion of the laying member is normally inclined at a slight angle to the direction of rotation so as to impart to the rod or wire turns a certain speed parallel to the direction of axial feed, thus ensuring a sufficiently large distance between the turns of rod or wire laid on a conveyor. This means, however, that the guide, which according to the invention may be narrowed adjacent the outlet end of the laying member, is subject to increased wear. This wear can be reduced in a preferred embodiment of the invention if the outlet end portion of the laying member extends along its path of rotation, and the roller can be rotatably mounted on a shaft which is pivotally mounted for radial movement (relative to the axis of the reel); behind the roller there is provided a guide wall for driving the turns of rod or wire in a direction parallel to the axis of the reel.

The invention is therefore based upon the problem of so constructing a rotary pipe reel of the kind hereinbefore set forth that the wire rod, right to its end, can be deposited upon the conveyor in constant turns. A further problem of the invention is to enable wire of even more than 10 mm. in diameter to be reeled right to the end with this reel without any difficulty. This aim is attained, according to the invention, making the internal diameter of the guiding ring, in the neighborhood of the end of the rotary pipe, equal to the maximum external diameter of the turns of wire rod, and, immediately beyond the end of the rotary pipe, providing a roller with a substantially cylindrical peripheral surface, so arranged as to be movable towards the guiding ring. By this means the wire rod, immediately beyond the end of the rotary pipe, in consequence of the centrifugal force acting upon it, is pressed against the guiding ring by the revolving roller, so that the succeeding wire rod, on the basis of the frictional resistance produced by the roller-applying force, is held fast, and is pulled through the rotary pipe.

According to this invention, there is also provided a combination of the laying reel of the invention and a conveyor for transporting the turns of rod or wire continuously away from the reel with corresponding portions of respective turns spaced apart in the direction of movement.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a section through the laying head and the guide of a laying reel in which the rod moves in a vertical direction and which operates in conjunction with a conveyor belt located below the reel;

FIG. 2 is a view of part of the laying head as seen from below, in the direction of the arrow llin FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a laying reel in which the rod is conveyed in a horizontal direction adjacent the laying head and which is followed by a conveyor belt.

In FIG. 1, 1 is the housing ofa laying reel in which the rod is fed in a vertical direction, the housing 1 containing a conically opening laying head 2 which is connected to a drive system not shown in the drawing. The outer surface of the laying head 2 has a rotary laying pipe 3 which extends away from the axis of the reel and is curved in three dimensions, the outlet end of the laying pipe 3 rotating through a circular path whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the turns of rod. The outlet end of the laying pipe 3 follows the circular arc of the rod and preferably extends strictly along an arcuate axis coaxial with the axis of rotation. Outside the path of rotation of the end of the laying pipe 3, the laying head 2 is encircled by a fixed guide sleeve 4 in which the turns of wire rod formed by the rotary tube drop downwards and are laid in extended, overlapping turns on a conveyor belt 13 which moves in a horizontal direction and is located beneath the guide sleeve 4.

A roller 6 directly follows the output end of the laying pipe 3, the roller 6 having a running surface which is approximately cylindrical; the free end of an extended shaft 7 of this roller 6 is pivoted to the laying head 2 by means ofa bolt the mounting being effected in such a manner that the roller 6 is able to move radially in relation to the axis of the laying head 2, towards the guide sleeve 4. A ring 5 is located adjacent the end of the laying member 3, on the inside of the guide sleeve 4, the internal diameter of the ring 5 being equal to the maximum external diameter of the turns of rod and the ring 5 acting as the effective guide.

In order to reduce the radial force applied to the roller 6, the latter is connected, through a linkage 9, with a counterweight 11, which counteracts the centrifugal force of the roller 6. The linkage 9 is pivoted to the shaft 7 by means of a bolt 14 directly adjacent the roller 6, and at the other side slides radially in a bore 10 in the laying head. The counterweight 11 is held on either side by nuts 12 which are screwed onto threading on the rod 9, so that the distance between the counterweight 11 and the roller 6 is adjustable.

In order to adjust the distance between the running surface of the roller 6 and the inner wall of the ring 5 according to the gauge of rod being rolled, a stop nut 17 is provided on the end of the linkage 9. This nut 17 is connected to a threaded sleeve 18 which engages the threading on the linkage 9. The frictional resistance produced by the force applied by the roller 6 to the guide ring 5 being somewhat greater than the frictional resistance to the passage of the wire rod through the rotary laying pipe 3. The smooth outer surface of the threaded sleeve 18 is in turn able to slide with a clearance in the bore 10 of the laying head 2. The distance between the roller 6 and the ring 5 may advantageously be adjusted by means of the stop nut 17 so that the front end of the rod which leaves the rotary tube 3 is deformed as little as possible when it is gripped by the roller 6.

In view of the high speed of rotation of the roller 6 when the machine is used for reeling small gauge rod, it is advisable to provide the roller 6 with a collar 19, the diameter of the collar being about 9 mm. larger than the diameter of the roller when the minimum gauge of rod to be rolled is 5 mm. The stop nut 17 is unscrewed to such a degree that the collar 19 on the roller 6 rolls on the internal surface of the ring 5 and the roller 6 starts to rotate when the laying arm starts to rotate, i.e. before the front end of the rod arrives, and the roller 6 rotates at almost the speed which is achieved when the roller 6 rolls on the wire rod.

In order to reduce the centrifugal force of the roller 6, it is possible to replace the linkage 9 and counterweight 11 by an adjustable tensioning spring, the result achieved being just as good.

FIG. 3 is a laying reel in which the wire rod is fed in a horizontal direction adjacent the laying head 2, and which is followed by a conveyor belt 13, the reel being identical with a that shown in FIG. 1 as regards the design ofthe laying head 2 and the guide sleeve 4 and ring 5. On the outer surface of the laying head 2 there is simply provided, behind the roller 6, a

guide wall 15, by means of which turns of wire rod which are formed are urged in the direction of feed. The vertical turns of rod 9 are thus accelerated in a horizontal direction, and at the end of the guide sleeve their lower parts hit against a butting end 16 so that the turns are tipped over and lie in extended, overlapping turns on the continuously moving conveyor belt 13.

1 claim:

1. A laying reel for laying rod or wire in the form of turns,

the reel having:

a shaped laying member whose outlet end portion is curved to form said rod or wire into turns;

a fixed annular guide surrounding the outlet end portion of said laying member, the internal diameter of said guide adjacent said outlet end of said laying member being equal to the maximum external diameter of said turns of rod or wire; and

a roller having an approximately cylindrical rolling surface for rolling on said rod or wire issuing from said outlet end of of said laying member, said roller following said outlet end of said laying member and being movable towards said guide in a generally radial direction.

2. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, including a counterweight and a linka e eonnecting said counterweight to said roller, said linkage eing movab e radially relative to the aims of said reel, whereby the frictional resistance produced by the force applied by said roller on the guide is somewhat greater than the frictional resistance to the passage of said rod or wire through said laying member.

3. A laying reel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the distance between said roller and said counterweight is adjustable.

4. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet end portion of said laying member extends along the path of rotation of said laying member, and wherein a guide wall is located behind said roller for driving said turns of rod or wire in a direction parallel to the axis of said reel.

5. A laying reel as claimed in claim 4 and including a shaft rotatably mounting said roller, said shaft being pivotably mounted for movement in a radial direction relative to the axis of said reel.

6. The combination of a laying reel as claimed in claim 1, and a conveyor for transporting said turns of rod or wire continuously away from said reel with corresponding portions of respective said turns spaced apart in the direction of movement of said conveyor.

7. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said laying member is arranged for rotation about a vertical axis and said outlet end portion of said laying member extends along the path of rotation of said laying member. 

1. A laying reel for laying rod or wire in the form of turns, the reel having: a shaped laying member whose outlet end portion is curved to form said rod or wire into turns; a fixed annular guide surrounding the outlet end portion of said laying member, the internal diameter of said guide adjacent said outlet end of said laying member being equal to the maximum external diameter of said turns of rod or wire; and a roller having an approximately cylindrical rolling surface for rolling on said rod or wire issuing from said outlet end of of said laying member, said roller following said outlet end of said laying member and being movable towards said guide in a generally radial direction.
 2. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, including a counterweight and a linkage connecting said counterweight to said roller, said linkage being movable radially relative to the axis of said reel, whereby the frictional resistance produced by the force applied by said roller on the guide is somewhat greater than the frictional resistance to the passage of said rod or wire through said laying member.
 3. A laying reel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the distance between said roller and said counterweight is adjustable.
 4. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet end portion of said laying member extends along the path of rotation of said laying member, and wherein a guide wall is located behind said roller for driving said turns of rod or wire in a direction parallel to the axis of said reel.
 5. A laying reel as claimed in claim 4 and including a shaft rotatably mounting said roller, said shaft being pivotably mounted for movement in a radial direction relative to the axis of said reel.
 6. The combination of a laying reel as claimed in claim 1, and a conveyor for transporting said turns of rod or wire continuously away from said reel with corresponding portions of respective said turns spaced apart in the direction of movement of said conveyor.
 7. A laying reel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said laying member is arranged for rotation about a vertical axis and said outlet end portion of said laying member extends along the path of rotation of said laying member. 